Campaigns for Cannabis

Marijuana has become an increasingly hot topic: Legislation for medical marijuana is filling the state houses; language to loosen marijuana laws is sporadically being proposed; and most significantly, in the wake of California’s Proposition 19 campaign from 2010, three states have qualified initiatives for a ballot vote this November to tax, control, and regulate cannabis. The conversation has been somewhat surreal. What was once a “third-rail issue” has now bloomed into a national debate that partisanship appears to have very little to do with. Organizations that focus on civil rights and drug policy reform have been indefatigable in their efforts to reform marijuana laws.

The the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) recently ran a very successful “Money Bomb” fundraiser, generating $694,383 for Colorado’s effort. Endorsements on the Colorado initiative’s website include organizations and persons like the Colorado Democratic Party, CO ACLU, National Lawyers Guild (CO chapter), Colorado Criminal Defense Bar, two-term New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson, and—most unlikely—evangelist Pat Robertson, founder of The Christian Foundation. Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (L.E.A.P.) is sending speakers to Rotary and Lions clubs in Colorado to talk about “the growing momentum to end marijuana prohibition in Colorado and how this will positively impact our communities.”

Alison Holcomb, who is the Drug Policy Director for the Washington ACLU, is at the forefront of Washington’s initiative 502 as Campaign Director. “We’ve focused on years of public opinion and research,” Holcomb stated, while explaining that the initiative’s overall goal is to increase public safety. “Our current marijuana laws don’t insure public safety, they compromise public safety.”

Alison Holcomb

Alison Holcomb

However, great concern has spread, both within the cannabis reform community and out, over drugged driving stipulations in Initiative 502, also known as “New Approach Washington.” The initiative language sets a bar for drugged driving at 5 nanograms per milliliter of active THC in the bloodstream-much the same way current law dictates driving under the influence of alcohol, with its .08% blood alcohol level standard. When Colorado tried to pass similar language in a legislative bill this year, MPP objected, saying the state already criminalizes driving under the influence of drugs and those who use marijuana frequently would be unjustly criminalized under the standard. Holcomb responded to these concerns by expressing that traction is being made and that, “the only way to deal with that [dissent] is to just sit down and talk about it.”

All three initiative campaigns are touting the economic benefit of developing a new cannabis industry. The cost-benefit analysis of social and economic damage from the prohibition of cannabis is a message being broadcasted almost uniformly. All three initiatives also include provisions allowing for the production of hemp. The Oregon Cannabis Tax Act website claims that the benefits of cultivating hemp crops would, among other things, create “greener cheaper fuel and industry for our farmers and timber workers.” Hemp production, like medical marijuana, would remain illegal under federal law.

Ethan Nadelmann, executive director at the Drug Policy Alliance, stated recently in an interview on Democracy Now! that public opinion is rapidly changing when it comes to marijuana. “It’s not a frivolous issue,” he asserted, adding, “Half of all drug arrests in America, about 850,000 arrests out of 1.7 million each year, are for nothing more than marijuana possession.” He predicted, “In the United States, you’re going to see, at the level of public opinion, civil society and state government, the push to change the way we deal with marijuana, first with the legalization of medical marijuana, then with the decriminalization, and ultimately with the sort of ballot initiatives we see to legalize marijuana in Colorado and Washington” [and now Oregon].

Using history as their lesson, reform organizations have enlisted mothers, current and former law enforcement officials, and public office holders to spread their message. Initiative 502 in Washington has already amassed the full support of 20 legislators. The next six months will likely be an uphill battle for the cannabis reform community, but support appears to be robust and plentiful. The fate of these initiatives will be decided in November by the people of their respective states.

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